Farming

If you are a regular reader of my column you likely know that I much prefer an organic approach to farm and gardening and that I believe that building healthy soil produces healthy food.
As I continue to learn more about pest control and fertility, the more I have come to understand why healthy plants and animals have an edge over their synthetically doped counterparts.
The other day I needed to do some fertilization in the vegetable patch so I gathered up some supplies that included bags of alfalfa meal, bone meal and cottonseed meal.

Powdery mildew is probably the most common garden fungus around.
It is not too terribly picky about where it spreads, it likes humid weather, thrives in the heat of the summer and is hard to control once it has started.
The trick here is to prevent it from happening by proper plant selection, spacing, pruning and treatment before it spreads.
Powdery mildew is caused by several different fungi, I won’t bore you with their names because they all act the same way.

It seems that we have been spoiled: A decade of mostly mild winters has led us to believe that all those borderline hardy plants would never get knocked back by a cold winter.
Well, I have seen quite a few crape myrtles, figs and French hydrangeas that are struggling to come back on old wood.
Fear not, however, because these plants are root hardy and will sprout new growth from the roots.

The nomination period for local Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committees begins Sunday, June 15, 2014.
To be eligible to serve on an FSA county committee, a person must participate or cooperate in a program administered by FSA, be eligible to vote in a county committee election and reside in the local administrative area where the person is nominated.

There are some plants that demand good drainage: taxus, coreopsis, gaillardia and penstemon, to name a few. I have lost them all because they were poorly sited in the garden but now that I know where water is slow to drain I know where to plant those trees, shrubs and perennials that like wet environments. There is an upside to poor drainage for some plants, just be sure that water is available when Mother Nature doesn’t deliver.

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has announced fruit, vegetable and wild rice provisions that affect producers who intend to participate in certain programs authorized by the Agricultural Act of 2014.
“Similar to previous programs that we’ve administered, planting fruits, vegetables or wild rice on base acres on a farm can result in a payment reduction for program participants,” said John W. McCauley, State Executive Director for the Kentucky FSA.

Mulching
Mulching can make all the difference between a garden that is a joy to work and watch and one that is tedious and untidy.
Among mulch’s greatest attributes is its ability to help control weeds.
Mulch also helps conserve soil moisture by 50 percent or more by covering the soil to slow down evaporation. UK soil scientists have found that a mulch on the soil surface can conserve about six inches of soil water during growing season. Most of the water conserved will reduce and/or delay plant water stress.